Presentation at LWI Regional Workshop

On December 2, 2011 I gave a presentation entitled "The Obligation to Produce Scholarship" at the one day LWI Regional Workshop held at the John Marshall Law School, in Atlanta. My presentation, which argued that all members of the legal academy have a professional obligation to produce scholarship regardless of their job category status, was part of the professional development portion of the program.

Carnegie Council Workshop

From November 9 to 13 I attended a workshop by the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs in New York. During the workshop participants discussed and developed programs to be sponsored by the Carnegie Council. One such program will be a class offered in the Philosophy Department at Mercer next Fall on “Civil Rights as Human Rights” which will also be offered in tandem with Professor Helle Porsdam from the University of Copenhagen.

Brazilian Judges Visit Mercer Law School

I hosted another group of Brazilian judges at Mercer this November. During their visit, Nov. 1-10, the judges attended law classes and panel discussions with Mercer Law School faculty and students, as well as area judges and lawyers. Among other events, the Brazilian judges attended panel discussions on comparative law, legal culture, legal education and legal discourse in the United States. The judges also plan to visit the Macon federal court, Georgia state courts, and the Georgia Supreme Court in Atlanta. For the full story on the visit please visit this site.

Appointment to Mercer's Philosophy Department

I recently received a secondary academic appointment to Mercer University's College of Liberal Arts (CLA). I will be a part of the philosophy department faculty teaching undergraduate courses in ethics, jurisprudence, and special topics. Last Spring term I taught Philosophy of Law, and this semester I am teaching a section of Introduction to Philosophy. Next academic year I will again teach Philosophy of Law, and a course in Philosophy of Film (which will be listed concurrently with my Law and Cinema class at the law school).

Carnegie Global Ethics Fellowship

I have been awarded a Global Ethics Fellowship by the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. I will be participating in Carnegie Council events between 2011 and 2014 (the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Council). Global Ethics Fellows develop programs in conjunction with the Carnegie Council’s mission to promote scholarship, teaching, and learning in the field of ethics in international affairs. There are currently 13 Global Ethics Fellows who are working to expand the Council’s Global Ethics Network, which will partner with educational institutions around the world to implement Carnegie sponsored programs. Carnegie programs will be offered at Mercer as part of my fellowship. As a Global Ethics Fellow I will primarily be working to promote the activities of the Council in South America (particularly Argentina and Brazil).

SEALS 2011 Annual Conference in Hilton Head, SC

At this year's Southeast Association of Law Schools [SEALS] conference I participated in an international roundtable discussion on “Global Challenges for Legal Education” as a member of the SEALS South American working group. While attending SEALS I also gave a talk on “The 1988 Brazilian Constitution and Social Composition.”

Research Fellowship at the University of Buenos Aires

I will be a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Buenos Aires Facultad de Derecho during May and June, 2011. I'll be part of an international working group convened by Emiliano Buis, which is studying the history of just war theory.

Writing Workshop at the Southeast Regional Legal Writing Conference

I moderated, along with Andrea McArdle, a session of the ALWD supported Writing Workshop at the 2011 Southeast Regional Legal Writing conference which was held at the Mercer University School of Law on April 15, 2011. During the session junior scholars from around the country presented their ideas for scholarly projects and received feedback.

Law Culture and Humanities Presentation

On March 11 I delivered a presentation entitled “Inevitability in Judicial Opinions,” with Linda Berger and Jack Sammons at the 14th Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and Humanities at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas.

AALS Section on Law and Interpretation

At the AALS Annual Meeting in San Francisco I was elected to one more term as the Chair of the Section on Law and Interpretation. I will be putting together the program for the 2012 meeting which will be held in Washington, DC.